A meeting with Alemu Aga and his begena lyre

Alemu Aga

Ethiopian musician born in Addis Ababa in 1950 and a leading living master of the begena, the ten-stringed lyre known as the harp of David. In the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo tradition the begena is reserved entirely for sacred use, played for prayer and meditation and never for entertainment. He sings his prayers and poetry barely above a whisper, drawing on the Amharic hymnbook of the theologian Admassu Jembere, and he kept the instrument alive through the years the Derg banned it.